How to: Removing malware, viruses and spyware

Often malware, the overall term for any virus, worms, spyware, and adware, is installed and can infect a users system without their knowledge. By the time it's realized a system is infected, a system can have constant pop-ups, is slowed to a crawl when accessing files, unable to access or even leave specific web pages, or worse... you're not even able to access the internet at all.

The steps in removing malware are standard throughout the computer industry.

1. Enter Safe Mode
On a Windows system, Safe Mode is a diagnostic tool that includes only the minimum drivers needed to boot your system safely to the desktop without any settings or problematic software interfering. Once there, you can troubleshoot further, to eliminate the problem and boot the system normally again.

The following steps apply for Windows XP through Windows 8. If you have a Windows 10 machine, check out the PC Worlds' video how to enter Safe Mode here.

   a. Turn on (or reboot) your computer.
   You can find Safe Mode in your Advanced Boot Options menu.
   b. Wait for the computer to initialize the hardware and prepare to load the operating system.
   c. Press and hold the F8 key while you wait for the Windows logo to appear. if the Windows logo appears or if the operating system begins to load, you may need to restart the computer and try again.
   d.The Advanced Boot Options screen for Windows will appear. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select Safe Mode, and press Return.
   e. If you need access to the Internet or network while in Safe Mode, select Safe Mode with Networking.
   f. Windows will boot into Safe Mode. When the desktop appears, it will display 'Safe Mode' in all four corners to let you know that you're in this special mode.

For Windows 10 getting to Safe Mode is a little different. Check out PC Worlds' video here.

Once you're in Safe Mode, you may find that Windows runs faster. This is usually a good indication that your system has some sort of malware or just alot of programs which are supposed to run in the background at startup.

2. Delete/Remove Temporary files
Before conducting a virus scan you'll want to remove temporary files. Doing this will speed up the scan of the antivirus software. To use the Disk Cleanup utility included with Windows, enter diskcleanup in the search bar at the Start Menu, or select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.

3. Download and install Antispyware/Antivirus software.
It's first recommended to install and run a program to remove spyware and adware first. A good tool for the job is Malwarebytes or Spybot Search & Destroy.

Then scan for antiviruses. There are a number of antivirus/antivirus software which come bundles with both antivirus, anti spyware that also scan for the entire malware spectrum. These commercial products such as Symantec or McAfee are known as 'End Point" software, are very reliable when detecting threats. Avg, Panda, and Kaspersky also provide well known products for removing viruses & spyware. The products come with a yearly subscription, however most of the companies offer a limited free version which scans for viruses only.

 Which provides the best protection? That my friends depends on who you ask. There are dozens of reviews on the internet. Just Google "Symantec vs Mcafee" ad you'll get a host of reviews comparing the two. CNET, PCworld and Techradar have some thorough reviews on antivirus/antispyware packages.

Whichever products you use, it's safe to say it's worth it to have your system stay clean and protected.